Certified Home Listing Specialist
An online listing agent course and certification for real estate agents who work with sellers.
Win the listing, market it well and keep the seller with you to closing.
About the CHLS
What the Certified Home Listing Specialist covers
The Certified Home Listing Specialist program covers the seller side of the business from the moment a homeowner agrees to meet you until the listing is live and drawing showings. It goes beyond the appointment into the seller experience: how often you report, what you say when showings slow, and how you keep sellers informed without overwhelming them. You will build a written listing marketing plan, direct photos and media as the agent who sets the brief, and help sellers weigh a cash offer or instant-buyer proposal against an open-market sale. A final unit shows you how to present energy features and smart home systems accurately in listing copy and at showings.
Why it matters
Why agents earn the CHLS
Sellers now have instant cash offers, online estimates, and several agents competing for their attention, so the agent who can lay out a clear marketing plan and compare every selling route honestly is the one a seller trusts with the house.
Who it is for
Is this designation right for you?
- Agents who want sellers informed and calm through the listing
- Agents who need a written marketing plan for every listing
- Agents whose sellers keep asking about instant cash offers
- Agents listing homes with solar, efficiency upgrades, or smart systems
The curriculum
What you will learn
4 units, each with a practice quiz and a hands-on assignment, then the final exam. The topics they cover:
Preparing for the listing appointment
Researching the home and the seller's goals beforehand so the appointment becomes a conversation instead of a pitch.
Designing the seller experience
Setting a communication rhythm, feedback reports, and check-in calls that keep sellers confident from launch through closing.
Building the listing marketing plan
Turning your launch steps, channels, and timing into a written plan the seller can read, approve, and track.
Directing listing photos and media
Briefing photographers, choosing shots, and scheduling video or floor plans as the agent, not the camera operator.
Cash offers and instant buyers
Comparing an all-cash or instant-buyer offer against an open-market sale so sellers see every cost and tradeoff.
Energy and smart home features
Describing solar, efficiency upgrades, and connected devices accurately, with documentation buyers and appraisers can rely on.
The payoff
What you will be able to do
- Run a listing appointment built around the seller's stated goals
- Deliver a written marketing plan sellers can approve and track
- Brief photographers and media vendors with a clear shot list
- Compare cash, instant-buyer, and open-market routes side by side for sellers
- Present energy and smart home features accurately in listing materials
In practice
What the CHLS looks like in your business
A seller holding an instant cash offer
Your seller opens the appointment by sliding an instant-buyer offer across the table and asking why they should bother listing at all. You do not dismiss it. Instead, you ask to see the offer details and build a side-by-side comparison: the offer amount, any service fee, repair deductions taken after the instant buyer's inspection, and the closing timeline, set against a realistic open-market range based on recent sales, your estimate of selling costs, and the time the home is likely to need. You talk through what the seller values most, whether certainty, speed, or the highest net, and you acknowledge that some sellers reasonably choose the cash route. Whatever they decide, they decide with the full picture in front of them, and you have earned trust by being straight with them.
Writing the brief for photo day
The photographer is booked for Thursday, and you know that a vague request produces a generic gallery. So you send a written brief two days ahead. It lists the rooms in order of importance, the features you want highlighted, such as the remodeled kitchen and the view from the primary bedroom, the time of day when light is best on the back patio, and any items that must not appear, like a security panel or a stack of personal mail. You ask for a floor plan and a short walkthrough video because the home's layout is its main selling point. On the day, you review the first few frames on the photographer's screen, confirm the colors look true, and make sure nothing in the edit misrepresents the property.
The weekly call when showings slow down
Three weeks in, showings have dropped off and your seller is anxious and starting to send late-night texts. You get ahead of it with the Monday call you scheduled when you signed the listing. You share the showing count, the feedback you collected, how many people saved or viewed the listing online, and what similar homes nearby have done since launch. Then you give your read in plain terms and offer specific choices: refresh the photos for the season, change the showing instructions so access is easier, address a recurring objection like the dated carpet, or revisit price. You put the agreed next steps in writing the same day. The seller still has a slow week, but they feel informed and in control rather than ignored.
Who earns it
Who earns the CHLS and why it pays off
The Certified Home Listing Specialist suits agents who want sellers to stay with them from appointment to closing and to send their neighbors afterward. It fits buyer's agents making their first move to the listing side, agents who inherit seller leads from a team, and established listers whose communication has become inconsistent as their volume grew. The clients you can serve include first-time sellers who have never seen a marketing plan, owners tempted by a quick cash offer, and households with solar panels or connected systems that need careful description. Referral sources include past sellers, the photographers and vendors you brief well, and lenders whose borrowers need to sell before they buy. The designation changes how a listing appointment sounds: instead of promising to work hard, you hand over a written plan, a communication schedule, and an honest comparison of every way the seller could sell. It sits naturally beside the Certified Market Analysis Specialist for pricing and the Certified Property Staging Specialist for preparing the home before photos.
Licensing, CE credit and NAR
The Certified Home Listing Specialist is an independent designation from Agent Certification Institute. It is not a real estate license, it grants no authority to do anything that requires one, and it is not state continuing-education (CE) credit. ACI has no affiliation with the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) and no endorsement from it. Agents who want an NAR-family credential on the seller side often look at the Seller Representative Specialist (SRS), which is well regarded and covers seller representation broadly. This ACI designation concentrates on the working parts of a listing: the seller experience, the written marketing plan, media direction, cash offer comparisons, and home features. You complete it online at your own pace, it is checked by an exam, anyone can verify it on a public page, and it is renewed each year.
What is included
Every ACI designation includes
- Scenario-based lessons built around real transactions and client conversations
- Copy-and-use scripts, checklists, and templates you can apply this week
- A final exam with written answers read by a real marker, not just a click-through quiz
- A printable certificate plus a verifiable digital badge
- Post-nominal letters you can add to your name and marketing
The process
How it works
Enroll online
Get instant access to the CHLS coursework. No scheduling, no classroom.
Learn at your pace
4 practical, scenario-based units with practice quizzes and hands-on assignments.
Pass the exam
Multiple choice plus short written answers, read by a person. 2 attempts included.
Earn your designation
Receive your CHLS certificate, a shareable badge, and a public verification page.
30-day money-back guarantee
Enroll with confidence. If a designation is not right for you, email us within 30 days for a full refund. No forms, no hassle.
Two exam attempts are included with every designation, and if you need another we add it at no extra cost.
Your CHLS certificate
- 1A full US Letter certificate in your name, as a print-ready PDF and an image for your website and listings.
- 2Dated the day you pass and valid for 12 months, with a verification ID anyone can check on our public register.
- 3Renewed each year with a short update on what changed and a ten-question check ($29, or free with All-Access). You get a re-dated certificate and badge.
Questions
Frequently asked
Is the Certified Home Listing Specialist designation affiliated with NAR?+
No. The Certified Home Listing Specialist is an independent designation awarded by Agent Certification Institute. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Association of REALTORS. It certifies that you completed our listing training, submitted the written assignments, and passed the final exam, and anyone can confirm your status on its public verification page.
What should I know before starting?+
You should hold an active license and understand your state's listing agreement and disclosure forms at a basic level. Pricing is touched on only where it shapes the marketing plan, because the full method for comparables and price conversations lives in the Certified Market Analysis Specialist. If you are new to listings, taking the two together gives you the complete seller picture.
Will this teach me to take listing photos myself?+
No. The media unit is written for the agent who hires and directs the work. It covers how to brief a photographer, which rooms and features deserve shots, when video or floor plans add value, and how to keep images accurate. If you want to operate the camera yourself, look for dedicated photography training, since this designation keeps you in the director's chair.
How does the course handle iBuyer and cash offer questions?+
It treats them as a legitimate option, not a threat. You learn to gather the offer's full terms, including fees, repair adjustments, and timing, and set them beside a realistic open-market estimate of the seller's net proceeds and timeline. The assignment asks you to build that comparison for a sample home. You present facts and tradeoffs, the seller makes the call, and any tax or legal questions go to their own advisers.
Does it help me keep sellers happy after the listing goes live?+
Yes, that is one of its main purposes. A full unit covers the seller experience after signing: a set communication schedule, showing feedback reports, how to deliver unwelcome news, and how to document agreed changes. Seller frustration often comes from silence rather than results, so the assignments have you draft the actual update messages and call agenda you will use on your next listing.
How should I describe solar panels or smart home devices in a listing?+
Accurately and with documentation. The course shows you how to confirm whether solar panels are owned, leased, or financed, what transfers with the sale, and which records the seller should gather, such as utility bills or warranty papers. It also covers listing smart devices that convey and resetting accounts at closing. Claims about energy savings should come from documents, not guesses, and your MLS may have specific fields for these features.
How long does it take?+
It is self-paced and fully online: 4 units, each a solid evening of reading plus a practice quiz and a short assignment you do in your own business. Most agents finish over a week or two. Written exam answers are marked within two business days.
Is it verifiable?+
Yes. Every CHLS holder gets a public verification page and a shareable digital badge for LinkedIn, your bio, and your email signature.
How long is it valid?+
Your CHLS certificate is dated the day you pass and is valid for 12 months, and your badge shows the years it is current for. A month before it lapses we email you. Renewing means reading that year's short update on what changed for CHLS holders and answering ten multiple-choice questions, for $29; you then get a re-dated certificate and badge. All-Access members renew free.
Is there a guarantee?+
Yes. Enroll with confidence. If a designation is not right for you, email us within 30 days for a full refund. No forms, no hassle. Two exam attempts are included with every designation, and if you need another we add it at no extra cost.
Can I get this and others for one price?+
Yes. The all-access membership unlocks CHLS and every other designation for $199 a year, and saves $1450 against buying the catalog one at a time.
Be first in when the CHLS opens
Every course is written to our full standard before it goes on sale. Leave your email and we will tell you the day enrollment opens. One email, no spam.
You are on the list. We will email you the day it opens.
Guides for agents
Part of a learning path
CHLS is one step in these paths: a suggested set of designations, in the order an agent tends to need them.
The first five skills a newly licensed agent relies on, in the order deals arrive.
Everything on the seller side, from the listing appointment to a negotiated offer.
Get seen, follow up well, work faster with AI and present listings at their best.
More in Buyer & Seller Representation
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Certified Market Analysis Specialist
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Certified Property Staging Specialist
Advise sellers on staging so listings photograph and show at their best.